Weekend in Raleigh

This past weekend, I headed to Raleigh with ma girl Ashton to visit our wonderful friend Erica (and to meet her very special boyfriend, Parker).

We arrived Saturday morning just in time for brunch. Parker and Erica took us to a chicken place called Beasley's. Now, normally I wouldn't order fried chicken, but they swore it was delicious and I can't say no to two people convinced this place is delicious. I got the Chicken Biscuit (fried chicken on a homemade biscuit with pickled green tomatoes and spicy mustard) and a side of beets in a citrus vinegar.

Erica and Parker both got a brunch special that they said was delicious - fried chicken on a biscuit with queso and a fried egg. Parker also got a block of pimento cheese mac n' cheese. Aren't they adorbs?

After brunch, we headed back to Erica's house and napped for a few hours. I awoke to the sweet sound of a chip bag opening, and we happy houred with some guacamole. After primping for the night ahead of us, we picked up Ali and Austin and headed to Centro for dinner. Centro is a very cool Mexican place in downtown Raleigh.

We started with a pitcher of delicious, fresh margaritas and I ordered the stuffed poblano pepper with rice, mint, and plantains on a bed of black beans. It was verrrrry delicious and the perfect dinner before a long night of beers and celebrating Marshall's birthday.

The next morning was a bit of a struggle, but we headed out for one last meal together. Erica and I split a frittata with avocado and tomatoes and an omelette with spinach, tomatoes, ricotta, feta, and mozz. Cheesy goodness. The home fries were amazing, as was Parker's outfit.

Sadly, upon my return to Charlotte, I came down with the stomach flu or some stomach virus that left me totally incapacitated for about 36 hours. My eats yesterday consisted of a piece of toast, a bowl of rice, and a popsicle, but I was just relieved to be able to keep any food down. Very happy to be on the road to recovery!!

Can't wait for Parker and Erica to make it down to Charlotte so Ashton and I can take them on a food tour of the Queen City.

Homemade Thai

On Friday night, Rob and I were hankering for some ethnic food. After some lengthy deliberation, we settled on Thai. After a quick glance through the pantry, we realized we could easily whip something up with what we had instead of spending money on take out. Dinner turned out pretty delicious (especially the chicken), so here's the recipe!

Thai Curry Chicken with Coconut Rice and Brussels Sprouts

Rice:

1 cup of rice (I used sushi rice but you can probably use any kind)
1 1/2 cups of coconut milk
1 Tbsp. of red curry paste
Salt and pepper

Rinse the sushi rice many times in water, swirling it with your fingers. Put the rice in a pot and add the coconut milk. Bring to a boil, then reduce to low heat. Cover and cook for ten minutes. Remove the cover, add the curry, and keep at a low heat for another ten minutes.


Chicken:

Chicken breasts (I used leftover rotisserie chicken which was perfect and easy)
2 Tbsp red curry paste
1 Tbsp powdered ginger
Salt and pepper
Coconut oil
Onion
Spinach
1/3 - 1/2 cup coconut milk
Lime

Sautee the vegetables in coconut oil and ginger. Add the chicken, coconut milk, and curry. Stir together until well combined and the flavors have settled (5-10 minutes). Squeeze lime juice over the food.

Brussels Sprouts:

B Sprouts
Ginger
Salt and pepper
Coconut oil
1 clove of garlic

Sautee the brussel sprouts in coconut oil and garlic. Add the ginger and cook until browned.

Enjoy!!!

Weekend Update!

This three-day weekend has been absolutely perfect. Friday night, I was totally exhausted (and so was Rob -- congrats on finishing his first full week!) so we ate in and watched Safe House with Denzel and Ryan Reynolds. Ehhhhh....decent movie.  For dinner, we had super easy chicken tacos. If you have a slow cooker, make this. It's cheap, foolproof, and delicious. Basically, put chicken breasts (or thighs) in the slow cooker with a jar of salsa. I used spicy salsa verde but any kind of liquid-based sauce will work. Then, we warmed corn tortillas in the oven and piled the tacos with black beans, spinach, tomatoes, Greek yogurt, and guacamole.

Saturday morning, I woke up and made oatmeal pancakes. No pictures, but they were decent -- just mix 1 banana, 1 egg, 1/4 cup oats, 1/4 cup almond milk, vanilla and cinnamon together and cook like a pancake. Rob had to work, so I went to FlyBarre and then bought some new curtains. I guess I'm spoiled by Hilliard, but FlyBarre was not challenging whatsoever which was kind of a bummer. Then, we headed up to Davidson for lunch with Hilary and Collin at Tenders!

Vanilla milkshake for the win

Grilled chicken sandwich, fries, and creamy garlic!

After lunch, we swung by F to see David Levintow who is finally graduating this spring after a tumultuous freshman year plagued by a broken ankle and pneumonia! Yayyyy David! Then we went to the McKillop's house before the game for a beer and to hang out with Brendan's niece, Maggie. She sat behind us at the game and it was the first time Rob has spent more time with his attention focused on a girl instead of the game -- he and Maggie are best buds.

Sunday, I went to FlyWheel in the morning which was an amazing workout. It was a 45 minute spin class that tracks your distance, calories burned, resistance, speed, etc.....I have a bunch of free classes and can't wait to go back. Rob spent the afternoon making three pizzas - Mexican with the leftover salsa chicken and black beans, pesto, and just a plain cheese. They were all amazing. We took them to his co-worker's house around the corner and watched football all afternoon. So sad for Tony Gonzales, but excited to see the HarBowl in two weeks. 

I didn't have work today, so I saw The Impossible (emotionally draining), made some healthified banana bread muffins, and cooked an easy and pretty healthy dinner: spinach fettucini with roasted red pepper sauce and an arugula salad. 

Red Pepper Chicken Pasta

Sauce:

Broil two red peppers lightly coated in olive oil until slightly charred 

Slice the peppers and add 1/3 cup of Greek yogurt, 3 Tbsp of goat cheese, 2 cloves of garlic & salt to a food processor or blender and mix well

Chicken:

I marinated the chicken in lemon, olive oil, balsamic, rosemary, and mustard. I just cooked it on the stove, but you can bake it if that's easier.

Cook the pasta and then mix it all together! I also added portobello mushrooms for some extra oomph.  Nom nom.

Breakfast "Cookies"

I have no pictures of them, but last night I made some breakfast "cookies" to have for this week. Rob hated them and said they weren't cookies at all, which is true. They're just shaped like cookies. Here's the recipe, but the amounts are just estimates since I threw everything into a bowl and crossed my fingers:

1/4 cup pumpkin puree

1 mashed banana

1/4 cup almond butter

1/3 cup almond flour

1/4 cup coconut flour

1/2 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk

1 tsp vanilla

a couple shakes of cinnamon

a pinch of salt

The batter should be the same consistency as brownie batter. I baked them for about 20 minutest at 400 degrees - they were soft, not crunchy, and I thought they were pretty good! The girls at work disagreed...they're not for everyone, but if you're looking for an easy, healthy (vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, sugar-free) option, I think they're pretty good. Next time, I'll probably add raisins and orange zest.

In other news, the juicing is still going very well. I've been making a double serving of juice in the morning so Rob and I both have something to take to work. The past few days, I've thrown in two oranges, two grapefruits, two apples, a bunch of kale, 3-4 carrots, a cucumber, and lemon. Surprisingly, Rob is very into the juices and even suggested that we go to Costco this weekend to stock up on fruit! 

Aaaand, I'm still obsessed with Coach's Oats (shown here topped with LoveGrown Granola - a sugar-free, gluten-free granola that is prettttty delish).

Happy birthday, Robble Gobble!

Happy birthday to the greatest guy I know! 

 

Birthday scotch and cigars

 

"Coco Loco" Duck Mole @ 5Church

Brett and his Proscuitto-wrapped NC Trout @ 5Church

Birthday S'mores @ 5Church

The boys eating all the dessert

Happppppppppy happy birthday! 

I hope 24 is your best year yet! 

Food comas

I realize that this blog is basically turning into a documentation of how absolutely food-centered my weekends have become, and this past weekend was no different. Rob got back from ten days in Atlanta on Friday night, and since it was his last weekend before launching into busy season (and, coincidentally, his last weekend as a 23 year old!), we had to celebrate. 

Friday night, I prepared an Italian feast. Mind you, I do not like cooking Italian food. I don't particularly enjoy pasta and I'm not very good at making it. Rob, however, requested it for his homecoming meal and since I aim to please, I couldn't say no. I headed to Pasta Provisions, a wonderful Italian market with all the fixings you can imagine, including fresh made pasta. I also had a coupon, so it was clearly meant to be. Rob was hungry when he got home from Atlanta but I wasn't, so I made him a happy hour plate to have a few hours before dinner.

Rosemary focaccia, pesto (nommmmm), manchego, jalapeno-stuffed olives, red wine cheddar, and proscuitto

Arugula salad with asparagus and proscuitto; rosemary-garlic linguini with a pomodoro sauce

Happy Bob

The meal was delish. We stayed in and watched a movie (I fell asleep, oops), and it was an absolutely perfect start to the weekend.

Saturday morning, I had to drop my car off at the dealer for some maintenance so I let the king sleep in. After another session at Hilliard, Rob and I went to get massages at the Charles Grayson Halcyon Days salon in Charlotte. I had a gift card thanks to some very sweet coworkers, and I knew this would be a really good birthday treat. The massage was AMAZING. I want to get one every month...or every day. We ran errands and had a really good lunch at Wolfgang Puck's Pizza Bar (sandwiches and a beet-arugula salad) before heading back home to watch some football. I'll talk about Saturday night in another post!

SUNDAY was pretty fabulous. Hilary spent the afternoon with us and it was so nice to be reunited with my long lost sister. We did some serious shopping (hello, new curtain rod, shoe rack, TV stand, and duvet cover) and baked cookies for her friends. After she left, I spent the rest of the afternoon cooking a pretty extravagant meal for Rob's official birthday dinner (he works through dinner during the week, so we celebrated last night): slow-cooked short ribs, grits with manchego, and roasted veggies.

Short ribs:

Brown the short ribs in a pan with oil, salt, and peppaaa. Make them crispy. Put them in the slow cooker with carrots, onions, garlic, red wine, beef broth, a little coffee, red pepper, balsamic, thyme...whatever. Make it deep. Cook on low for 6-8 hours and the meat will literally fall right off the bones.

For the grits, I brought chicken broth, water, and milk to a boil before adding the grits. I couldnt believe that 1/2 cup of grits turned into ~5 servings, but alas, magic in the kitchen! I added 1/8 stick of butter (I really thought I'd have to add an entire stick, but didn't need to!), ~1/4 cup of manchego, and ~ 1/3 cup of plain Greek yogurt. These were amazing. Rob had some leftovers with his eggs for breakfast this morning. Delish.

Then I just roasted up some brussel sprouts and mushrooms for a little extra oomph.

Finished product:

Nom.

I ALSO made a cake from scratch for the first time. I used Ina Garten's chocolate cake recipe, this frosting recipe, and then another German Chocolate Cake Frosting recipe for the top. Lots of work but it was worth it - this cake is EXTREMELY decadent and delicious.

After the sugar high from the cake, I passed out from a food coma.

Thoughts for a New Year

I don't want to write a "New Year's Resolution" post, but I've spent the last week and a half trying to reset my bearings and start this year off on the right foot. Four things I want to focus on this year:

1) Be a better pup-mom: I am so lucky to have the best dog in the whole world (unbiased opinion), but I know I can do better. I want to spend more time with Tucker this year on walks, at the park, and with training. This means being stricter in some arenas (no, Tucker, you can't roam freely on all the furniture and sleep under the covers every night) but I think it will ultimately make him a happier pup.

Less "Sad Tuck"

More "Happy Tuck"

2) Part of making Tuck happier is spending more time with him at night, which means I've been getting up between 5:15 and 5:30 to get my workouts in before the sun comes up. This way, I have pretty much all night to hang with the pup. Speaking of workouts, I've started going to Hilliard Studio Method - a Pure Barre / Bar Method type workout, but a lotttt harder. Basically, there's no downtime for stretching or resting. At HSM, a standard plank or normal push-ups are considered recovery. Needless to say, I definitely take my fair share of unprescribed breaks, but I really like the women who own the studio and look forward to the workouts.

I also re-joined the YMCA and have been going there a few times a week for classes or just to run. The Cherry Blossom 10-miler is the first weekend of April (whoooo hooo can't wait!) and Emily and I are trying to find a good half to do this spring.

3) Make good food choices: I know that eating well makes me feel good and tons of gluten, grease, and refined sugar makes me feel bad. Nevertheless, I also know that totally eliminating food groups doesn't work for me. Paleo? Tried that, but I love pizza too much (and so does Rob). I just need to get back to eating good, whole foods in normal portions. More of this and less pizza:

Oatmeal with bananas, blueberries, and a little peanut butter

Salad at work with chicken, avocado, and sweet potatoes & organic balsamic

Spinach, sweet potato fries, and homemade buffalo chicken bites 

4) Make time for the things that matter: I want to make sure I'm calling the people I love but don't see enough to catch up on everything. I want to make sure and see Hilary at least twice a month -- we probably won't be living 30 minutes from each other next year and she's my favorite little sis. 

I also want to focus on being present and not stressing out as much about things I have no control over. Rob will be working some crazy hours for the next three months, and then two months later, I'll probably be moving somewhere pretty far away, sending us back into a long-distance relationship. Instead of stressing about what's to come, I want to spend the next 5-6 months enjoying the time we actually get to spend together. I'm pretty sure he's a keeper, so even if we only get ten minutes together in the morning before work, I want to make them count.

And for those times when he's not around, I'll just throw on my favorite pair of his sweats and pretend like he is.

Juice Cleanse

After the holidays and a very delicious but decadent weekend in Atlanta, it's time for a bit of a reset. I dusted off my juicer when I got home and whipped up a carrot, apple, and arugula juice with a squeeze of lemon for dinner last night. It was good! I was surprised that the arugula worked so well.

This morning, I went to the gym early then made a juice for breakfast and one for lunch to take to work with me. I'm hoping the lunch juice will stay fine in the fridge (I put it in a tinted plastic water bottle, although stainless steel is best). 

Breakfast:

4 Carrots

1 Grapefruit

1 Orange

Small piece of ginger

1 Apple

Squeeze of lemon

Lunch:

1 Apple

2 Cucumbers

3 Bunches of kale

2 Celery stalks

Squeeze of Lime & Lemon

(I ended up not putting the spinach in because there would have been too much volume)